Dear President Trump, It isn’t often that I choose a title for a letter to you before the letter is written, but this afternoon I decided today’s title needs to be Degrees of Freedom, which really, is kind of ironic since by choosing the title ahead of time, I boxed myself in to talking about … Continue reading Degrees of freedom
Hope
ALONE / ALL ONE
Dear President Trump, I probably didn’t need to consult the Google Oracle to confirm that the rainbow pictures cropping up in windows around Seattle (many of which are also hosting Teddy bears) are related to covid-19, but I just had to be sure. And yep, they are – apparently a nurse in NYC posted rainbow … Continue reading ALONE / ALL ONE
Could this nightmare actually be a gift to the future?
Dear President Trump, Because it’s likely that Seattle isn’t the only city doing this for kids, you and I may be the only people in the US who didn’t know about the call to put Teddy bears in your front windows so that kids walking by can count them up and have something to do … Continue reading Could this nightmare actually be a gift to the future?
Looking in, looking out
Dear President Trump, I know it’s just coincidence, but it rather looks like someone at the WP read yesterday’s letter about not losing sight of the people behind the covid-19 numbers since all four of those featured in the front page obituary section have their causes of death attributed to coronavirus (typically cause of death … Continue reading Looking in, looking out
Bearing witness beyond the numbers
Dear President Trump, Are you getting daily (sometimes it seems, hourly) reminders to take care of yourself in the midst of the covid-19 crisis? Maybe it’s a function of being in the mental health profession, but we really are getting at least daily reminders that we need take care of ourselves, that we need to … Continue reading Bearing witness beyond the numbers
I beg your pardon, but inequality is not a mere distraction
Dear President Trump, I have a hyper-local vignette and a bigger picture take for you for today. I’m not sure whether I’ve mentioned this before, but pre-you, Laura and I played Scrabble most weeknights. However, once you were installed as POTUS, it wasn’t until covid-19 slowed everything down and eliminated my commute time that it … Continue reading I beg your pardon, but inequality is not a mere distraction
This virus is a wake-up call that we can’t afford to sleep through
Dear President Trump, There’s a beautiful (very long) poem by Kristen Flyntz titled An Imagined Letter From Covid-19 to Humans that I got from a friend at church. I looked it up online and found that it appeared a little over a week ago and has been circulating on various social media sites. I’m including … Continue reading This virus is a wake-up call that we can’t afford to sleep through
Compassionate calm and calm compassion
Dear President Trump, Last week a friend of ours asked if we’d be up for doing a Zoom book club and Laura and I both signed on. We have only one copy of the book and it’s about mindfulness so I’m probably going to be the lone reader in our household. The book is by … Continue reading Compassionate calm and calm compassion
Leveraging lessons learned
Dear President Trump, It felt odd yesterday that there wasn’t some equivalent of a Town Crier cruising the streets at 5pm to announce the official start of our state’s shelter in place order. We tuned in to Representative Jayapal’s virtual 5pm Town Hall meeting so I suppose that was sort of similar, but still – … Continue reading Leveraging lessons learned
Tender responses to tenderness
Dear President Trump, Maybe they are related, but in addition to being tired much of the time, I’m also in that cry-at-the-drop-of-a-hat space much of the time. Can you relate? At all? No? I thought not. You’re more of a rage-at-the-drop-of-a-hat sort of person, aren’t you? My newly rekindled tearfulness is usually not in response … Continue reading Tender responses to tenderness
Daily Trump Letters 